If this is the direction that Yahari is going to take from now on, you can bet that I’m overly excited to see just how intense things could possibly get in the future. And while that may be hoping for a bit much, I was also pleased to see that the writers finally seem to have created a good formula to create a very interesting episode.

Enter Hachiman, the character who could single-handedly make the world of Yahari go round. Up to this point, it’s been pretty clear that he’s had no intention to change the status quo and if anything would prefer things to get even worse (or in his case, better). That is, I thought it was pretty clear what his intentions were until this week’s episode managed to completely change my mind.

There’s just something about Hachiman’s character that makes me think that he’s capable of doing the impossible. Maybe it’s because how he behaves when faced with stressful situations or maybe it’s because I’m always rooting for the underdog, but every time when push comes to shove, the emotions inside of me swell up to the point where I want to yell out his name in hopes he’ll do something epic. And thus far, we’ve seen slight glimpses of just how capable he can be. From using reverse psychology to help Yui with her cooking or empathizing with Yoshiteru to help keep his self-esteem intact — it’s clear that deep down something intrinsically is motivating him to look out for those around him.

But this week with Saika, there was a completely different feel to things. Looking passed the fact that he probably takes the trap of the season award, it felt like Hachiman was actually going out of his way to help him with his problem. And seeing how there’s nothing extrinsically motivating him and he’s supposed to be the definition of a secluded individual, I think this may be the start of him slowly opening up as a person and transitioning into a person that’s a bit more obvious to the things going on around him. Maybe.

Then again, this third episode was just a whole lot better in general. The jokes were a lot funnier, the character interactions were spot on, and while I’m a little ashamed to say that I enjoyed it I think I’m going to enjoy watching Yui become the comedic relief character. Plus, who wouldn’t enjoy watching Yukino laugh in the face of some blonde bimbo and then show her up in her own sport? Overall, I think I’m beginning to see what’s going to push this show over the top and make it one of the hits of this season. It started out a bit slow by introducing us to the characters but now that the ball’s rolling, I’m expecting to see a bunch of humor while watching three misfits grow out of their shell and become stronger people.

Judging from the way he protected Blondie, I’d like to think he’s a genuinely nice. I did have the same suspicions about him being an actual jerk, but his act of valour and care seemed to erase those doubts. I could still be wrong: maybe he just cares for her in particular, and doesn’t give a **** about anyone else.

I think hayama is a nice guy though i cant help but feel like there is a part of him that seems a bit off; just the way he seems be nonchalant around hikki; its almost like he’s trying hard to be cool with him; not in that attention grabbing kind of way, more like trying to tolerate him type of way. He seems that he means well towards hikki but at the same time im skeptical as to whether its genuine.

or I think Hayato is just around that blonde girl because of some old story he has with her and he would like to protect her or something, I’m sure every loud looking ‘bimb*’ has a history to her as well. He might be genuinely nice, but he seemed to be backing the blonde girl even in things that are genuinely not nice, and didn’t stop her when she insulted ‘the third main charecter’ (lol her name is hard sorry) in the previous episode.

true, they say ‘the tall poppy syndrome’ a.k.a
“Tall poppy syndrome (TPS) is a pejorative term primarily used in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and other Anglosphere nations to describe a social phenomenon in which people of genuine merit are resented, attacked, cut down, or criticised because their talents or achievements elevate them above or distinguish them from their peers.” lol that’s what I thought when watching this episode a bit /too much thinking into useless things.

I LOLed. But when I think about it again, those series that magically turned the audience to support the main character when they magically win are actually the strange one, aren’t they?

On another note, I thought a wind can not shift a tennis ball that far (unless it was a tornado or something). I guess my common sense is wrong then, assuming they were not using an ultra-light special tennis ball, that is.

…and that trap probably one of the most dangerous one I have ever encountered…

I like this series for their smart comebacks, and the very fact that I share alot of qualities with ‘Hikki’, I think my daily facial expression was equal to his in some way xD regardless, this episode was fun to watch lol and I didn’t want him to like beg them to leave or w/e he was going to do, even though I probably do that myself when I never put any effort, but I really liked his come back in the game xD just the winning thing was kind of unexpected xD

I just thought of something I didn’t see in your post, or maybe I was blind, the girl with the orange hair (the 3rd main char) sorry I can’t remember her name at moment, but she was going to ask Hiki a question, but then the other student interrupted :D now I’m curious, I hope this isn’t one of the anime’s where someone asks a question and they never go back to it lol I can’t wait to see, besides, we have seen a glimpse of an ‘accident’, I wonder now about the ‘entrance exam’.. Cheers. M.

Another great episode- show is shaping up quite nicely. The trap was unexpected and awesome, and the character interactions remain fantastic. My favorite part was when Yukino beat that haughty, self-entitled blonde chick whose name I don’t remember nor care to because she’s an unlikable bitch in tennis. (reminded me way too much of a lot of girls I had the “pleasure” of knowing in high school) Another thing I’m pleasantly surprised by is how much character development we’ve gotten out of Hikki in 3 episodes. For someone who is even more cynical than Houtarou, it’s crazy to see how much he’s grown. Here’s hoping the show stays this quality!

I would kindly like to ask of you to please stop trying to so utterly confuse and mindf*** all the men of the world and quite possibly making many women feel (even more) insecure about their own appearances *looks at Baka to Test*. Thank you very much.

One thing that I always want to know is “what is the character’s backstory?” What events in their life made them the way they are? Hiki has built a shell to protect himself and to allow him to justify his lack of friendship by looking down on the concept. He obviously does care about people but fights it so he won’t be hurt by rejection. I didn’t have much enthusiasm for the show at first but now I’m looking forward to the story. Thank goodness for the 3 episode rule. (^_^)

I seriously LOL when Hikki stepped up to the plate and showed what he was truly capable of. More Respect points to him for going through with his way of life, showing some talent hidden up his sleeves and for his awesome introspective.

And yes, like many others, I do think Hayato is really a good person at first glance. Perhaps even at the second or third one. What’s interesting is how Hikki puts it – that the person is surrounded by the goodness of life while he himself doesn’t have anything of that (and from any other person it would probably look like envy, but not Hikki). The simple explanation would be they simply lived in different circumstances with different mindsets, whether those mindsets were cultivated by the circumstances or not. Dude will suffer if he continues dating Blondie though IMO, unless she changes.

Yukino continues to put in a great showing too, and am I glad for being able to see her personality, ability and even weakness in action.

I’m pretty certain that part of the point of this episode was that Hikigaya doesn’t actually fit into the ‘nice/sensitive loser’ mold that so many other stories use. Unlike the stereotype, he does have smarts, and he does have some degree of athletic talent – which reinforces the point that whatever he is like now, it is, in fact, almost entirely a function of his personality and his choices.

The light novels are simply awesome! Watch Hikki (Hikky in FFF subs… why can’t they change =.=) become a weird hero later on! Oh and the chuunibyou guy is annoying to me. And hooray for more Yui!
Hikki is unconventional. He’s twisted, he has no good looks, no super powers etc, he only has his twisted personality. And this makes it refreshing compared to other I-will-save-you stereotypes of other shows. Yukino and Yui are very interesting too!
Definitely one of my favorite shows of the season!

What I find interesting about this episode has to be the entire tennis scene. Now, obviously from our point of view Hikki and the others are the good guys and the popular kids are the bad guy. Buuut, think about that whole scene for a second. Not from a ‘My Teen Romantic Comedy’ perspective, but from a normal Romance Comedy. Miaura (or the blond/bimbo/bitch as everyone seem’s so fond of calling her XD) and Hayama seem pretty familiar if you think about it. In most RomCom’s there’s usually (as some people call) the Lovable Alpha Bitch. A girl who everyone KNOWS is a total bitch but a big part of the fandom love them because they’re so bitchy. Then there’s the ‘lovable oblivious accident pervert’ male protagonist that is often paired with her. In these kind of show’s there’s usually an episode where they face off against a bunch of nobodies that we never see again in the anime, most of the time they win, but sometimes even when they lose, they win because they did something heroic. Like how Hayama saved Miaura when she was about to hit the gate. Under ‘normal’ circumstances when we’re seeing from the perspective of characters like Hayama this is an establishing character moment, showing just how honest and heroic they are.

But that’s the beauty of this show. We’re NOT looking at this from their perspective, we’re looking at this from the perspective of the nobodies that we never see for the rest of the anime. From Hikki’s perspective. That’s what I think baffles me the most about this episode, they’ve completely REVERSED the roles that most RomCom’s have. The people who are normally the protagonists are portrayed as antagonists, and the antagonists are portrayed as protagonists. Who knows, maybe in another anime everyone might actually LIKE Miaura and Hayama. Yet in this one…I just can’t fully express how amazed I’am by what this animes done.

I love Hachiman’s inner-monologues. He’s so interesting. That was a pretty smart way of getting himself out of the pair activity. “I’m sick and I don’t want to hold my partner down, can I practice alone?” Gotta use that someday if I’m paired with someone I don’t like. Lol.

I respect how Hachiman eats alone. I know it’s because he doesn’t have or want friends, but it seems to be so peaceful to enjoy lunch outside, by yourself. You can focus on eating and thinking to yourself.

Lol at the biggest trap ever, Saika. Who’da thunk it…

Uh so did they really do the “work out schedule” that Yukinoshita suggested in passing? Lol…

Damn, who knew that Hachiman was going to be so awesome at tennis. I guess all the practice alone got him to hone his skills, versus people that are practicing and socializing, minimizing their practice time.

It was sweet of Hayama to want to end the game in a draw, and dove after the blond girl when she hit into the gate.

I really am getting into this series, and just might end up marathoning until the most recent episode. Or maybe I should wait it out since there’s only three episodes left. Hmm… probably won’t be able to wait. Lol.